Weight operated engine starting and anti-stalling switch means



g- 1964 c. v. JONES, SR 3,143,613-

WEIGHT OPERATED ENGINE STARTING AND ANTI-STALLING SWITCH MEANS Filed May22, 1961 I r I I I!" I I I I I I I I! lii@ INVENTOR Gay Jones, Sr.

BY /3 W 2 ATTORNEY United States Patent WEIGHT OPERATED ENGINE STARTlN GAND ANTI-STALLING SWITCH MEANS Coy V. Jones, Sr., Greeuville, S.C.,assignor to Southern Machinery Company, Greenville, SC, a corporation ofSouth Carolina Filed May '22, 1961, Ser. No. 120,833 2 Claims. (Cl.20083) This invention relates broadly to starter means for internalcombustion engines, and more particularly to improved vacuum controlledstarting switch and anti-stall device.

Automatic vacuum operated starter switches are known in the prior art,and most usually embody resilient diaphragms which are subject to thevacuum pressure from the intake manifold of the engine. A spring orsprings are commonly utilized to shift the diaphragm and switch contactmeans carried thereby to the engine starting position whenever theengine stalls, and under such circumstances, automatic restarting of theengine is obtained as is well known. A basic difliculty with the priorart devices of this type resides in failure or inoperativeness of. thespring means, due to rust, the effect of heat, spring fatigue due tolong usage and other mechanical failure of the spring means. It is wellknown that any spring will have its characteristics changed by continuedusage particularly in the presence of heat and under conditions wherethe spring may corrode or rust. These conditions are impossible to avoidentirely in automotive usage. According to the present invention, thisbasic difllculty is entirely overcome by the total elimination ofsprings in the automatic starting switch.

An important object of the invention is to provide a vacuum controlledstarting switch including a novel and simplified weight means associatedwith a resilient diaphragm to actuate or close the switch upon failureof the vacuum from the intake manifold or stalling of the engine. Theswitch operating characteristics of the weight means do not change inthe slightest due to the effect of heat, rust or other deterioratingfactors. Therefore, once installed upon the automotive vehicle, theswitch according to the invention requires no adjustment andsubstantially no maintenance and will have a much longer. operative lifethan prior art switches embodying spring means in association withdiaphragms and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vacuum controlledstarting switch which will effect the starting of the engine as soon asthe ignition key is turned to the onposition; the device of theinvention also restarting the engine automatically upon stalling of thesame with resultant failure of vacuum in the intake manifold, andthereby completely eliminating the necessity for the driver to manuallyengage the starter system upon the occurrence of engine stalling orduring initial starting of the engine. 7

A further object of the invention is to provide novel .and simplifiedrelief valve means for one chamber of the starting switch, as well asmeans to adjust the relief valve means.

Another object is to provide in a switch of the men- Another object isto provide a device of the mentioned character which is rugged anddurable in construction, fully enclosed, compact, reliable and efiicientinoperation and very economical to manufacture and ice Other objects andadvantages of the invention will become apparent during the course ofthe following detailed description In the accompanying drawings forminga part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to Vdesignate like parts throughout the same,

applicable to substantially any existing or new conventional' automotivevehicle.

FIGURE 1 isa perspective view of an engine starting switch embodying theinvention, I

FIGURE 2 is a central vertical cross section through the same, V

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 33 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 4 is a simplified wiring diagram showing a conventionalautomotive ignition system with the switch according to the inventioninstalled therein.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown apreferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 10 designatesgenerally a two part 'switch casing disposed upright or vertical duringuse, and supported by any suitable bracket means, not shown, andpreferably formed of some suitable electrical insulating material, suchas Bakelite or one of the high impact modern plastics materials nowcommonly employed in the electrical industry. The casing 10 is generallycylindrical, as shown, and embodies a pair of opposed cup-like casingsections 11 and 12 having opposed annular flanges 13 integral therewithand detachably secured together in assembly by through bolt means 14.

A generally flat circular resilient diaphragm 15 of rubber or the likehas its marginal portion tightly clamped between the opposed flanges 13as indicated in the drawings. The diaphragm 15 is substantially taut inassembly although readily flexible under the influence of vacuumpressure and weight means to be described. The diaphragm 15 divides thecasing 10 into upper and lower chambers 16 and 17. The diaphragm 15, topwall 18 of easing section 11 and bottom wall 19 of casing section 12 arepreferably disposed substantially level or horizontal during use,although exact levelness is not required for proper operation of theswitch, as obviously the automotive vehicle will assume various degressof inclination during normal operation.

A tubular screw-threaded fitting 20 is formed centrally upon the topwall 18 and projects thereabove for attachment at 21 to a vacuum line ortube 22 leading to and communicating with the intake manifold of theautomotive engine. Consequently, the switch chamber 16 at the upper sideof diaphragm 15 is in direct communication with engine suction orvacuumdurin'g normal engine operation. I V

A relatively heavy circular disc or weight 23 is disposed in contactwith the top of diaphragm 15 and centrally of the upper chamber 16 asshown. A striker plate 24 or lower weight element, somewhat larger indiameter than the upper weight 23, is disposed upon-the lower side ofthe diaphragm 15 concentrically with the upper weight 23. The elements23 and 24 are'tightly clamped to opposite sides of the diaphragm 15 bycentral bolt means 25, recessed into the top and bottom faces of theelements 23 and 24 respectively as indicated at 26 and Y27. The opposedclamping faces of the weight elements 23 and 24 extend over asubstantial central area of the diaphragm 15 as shown in FIGURE 2. Thelower flat face 28 of the metallic striker plate 24 is adapted toengageor bridge electrical contacts of the switch device to be described. v a

A fixed upstanding metallic terminal or pin '29 is anchored at 30 to thebottom wall 19 of the casing, and a lead wire 31 is electricallyconnected at 32' to the terminal pin 29, as shown. The top of the pin 29is adapted I 3 to engage the bottom face 28 f striker plate 24 andinwardly of the periphery of the striker plate.

A bimetallic strip contact element 32 is fixedly secured zit/33" to thecasing bottom wall 1.9 and electrically connected asv at 34 with asecond lead wire 35. The bimetallic strip contact 32 is adapted to haveits top end engage the. bottom face 28 of striker plate 24, when thelatter is in a: lowered Position as shown in FIGURE 2, when no vacuum isbeing pulled in upper chamber 16.

H Bottom wall 19 has a small central opening 36 formed therethrough,covered by a reed valve 37, secured at 38 to-thebottom wall 19 andadapted to be adjusted open to a desired degree relative to opening 36by adjusting screw 39 carried by bottom wall 19. When suction is appliedin upper chamber 16, the reed valve 37 opens somewhat automatically 'asdiaphragm and weights 23 and 2.4 are drawn upwardly and away fromterminals 29 and 32. That is to-say, the reed valve 37 opensautomatically'at this, time to relieve suction in the lower chamber 17caused by upward movement of the, dia- .phrag-m 15. Whenthere is novsuction in upper chamber 15,, aswhen the engine. stalls and intakemanifold suction ceases, the. weights 23 and 24 and diaphragm 15 willfall ,toward contact with the. terminals 29 and 32. as shown in FIGURE2. This falling movement of the weight elements and diaphragm may becontrolled and retarded in the desired manner by adjusting the bleedingof air from lower chamber 17 through the opening 36 by means of the reedvalve 37and its adjusting screw 39.

With reference to diagrammatic FIGURE 4, the vacuum controlled switch ofthe invention is shown at the top of the diagram and the lead wires 31and 35 are shown leading, from the switch terminals 29 and 32. Theautomotive distributor is diagrammatically shown at 40 and the usualstarter solenoid and starter motor are indicatedat 41 and 42 in FIGURE4. The ignition coil 43, standard ignition switch 44, the usual ammeter45, the

neutral gear shift switch 46 and storage battery 47' are alldiagrammatically illustrated in the conventional manner in FIGURE 4.Thesevarious elements of the auto- Tmotive ignition system in additionto the switch embodied in this invention are all conventional and wellknownand function-intheir usualmanner to start the engine oftheautomotive vehicle.

With. continued reference to FIGURE 4, the lead' wire 35 is connected inseries with the coil of starter solenoid 4.1,. which coil'may begrounded at 48. The other lead .WiIe; 3:1: is connected through theneutral gear shift switch tery-47 and: the solenoid 4,1 in the usualmanner as shown.

The ignition: switch;- 44 is connected in parallel with the .coil 43 anddistributor 40, as shown in the wiring diagram.

The operation of the switch in the ignition system is briefly asfollows: Assuming that the engine is turned oif,and the driver by meansof the. usual key turns the ignition switch 44 to the on position,terminals 29 and 32 will be connected' in circuit through thestriker'plate 24, FIGURE 2, and current willflow from the storagebattery 47 to the starter solenoid 41. The contact points in the startersolenoid are closed establishing a circuit from the storage battery 47to. the starter: motor 42 to crank the. engine.

When the. engine. starts, the vacuum immediately created in the intakemanifold, is transmitted to the chamber 16 which liftsthe' diaphragm 15andweights 23 and 24 and. immediately breaks the circuit with theterminals '29. and 32 through the. lower weight 24 or striker plate.

This immediatelyinterrupts the circuit to the starter mo- .tor 42 and.stops the cranking of the engine.

If, for any reason, the engine stalls during operation, the vacuum. inthe chamber 16 will cease, thereby allowing the weights 23 and 24 andflexible diaphragm 15 to move downwardly under the influence of gravityand under the retarding influence of the valve 37 toward es- '46.withfilbev ignition. switch 44, ammeter 45, storage battablishingcontact between the striker plate 24 and the terminals 29 and 32. Assoon as the striker plate 24 again engages the terminals 29 and 32, thestarter motor 42 will again be energized for cranking the engine andre-establishing the vacuum in the chamber 16 for again lifting thediaphragm 15 and its associated weights.

The mass of the weights 23 and 24 is such that the vacuum created atcranking speed by the engine will not be suflicient to lift thediaphragm 15 and break the contact between the terminals-29 and 32 andstriker plate 24. At idling speed, the intake manifold suction will besufficient to lift the diaphragm 15 and the weights 23 and 24 to openthe circuit through'the terminals 29" and 32 and thereby interrupt thecranking of the engine.

The bimetallic terminal 32 provides a safety feature in that after apredetermined cranking time for the engine and failure of the engine tostart duringthis time, thebimetallic terminal 32 will heat somewhat andflex away from the face 23 of striker plate 24 and thereby open thecranking circuit. This will eliminate running the storage battery downor causing other damage when the en gine fails to start for a variety ofpossible reasons.

The diaphragm 15 will never dropto the point of es tablishing contactbetween the striker plate 24 and the terminals 29 and 32 during fullacceleration of the engine, due to the restricted escape of air from thelower chamber 17 through the port 36, asv previously explained.

'the necessity for the operator to manually engage the starter motorwith the engine fly wheel at any time. Vehicles equipped with the switchaccording to the invention do not require the usual starter switcheswhich are commonly located on the floor, instrument panel or in theignition switch.

The switch according to the invention may be installed on substantiallyall makes of automobiles and trucks equipped with electrical startermotors which engage the fly wheel through the well known Bendix drive orinertia. The device, when installed on automobiles with automatictransmissions, will. engage the starter motor only when the shift leveris. in the neutral or park position. When installed on automobiles withthe conventional manual gear shift, it will engage the starter motoronly when the gear shift lever is in a neutralposition.

It may now. be seen that the invention provides a starter switch andanti-stall switch which utilizes no springs and operates under thecombined influence of gravity and intake manifold suction. Consequently,there is no tendency for the switching characteristics of the device to.vary or change as commonly occurs with the use of springs whichfatigue,rust, fail structurally and are influencediby a number offactors. The switch according to the invention, once installed upon thevehicle, re-

.quires no adjustment and substantially no maintenance. .If' it shouldbecome necessary to change or replace the diaphragm 15, for example, itis a very simple matter to separate the casing sections 11; and 12 andreplace the diaphragm 15. with the weights 23 and 24.

It is. to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shownand described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, andthat various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A switch device of the character described for use .in an enginestarting system or the like comprising a casing, a diaphragm dividingthe casing into upper and lower chambers, means for connecting the upperchamber with a source of suction, air escape means for the lowerchamber, a pair of spaced electrical terminals secured to the casing forconnection in an engine starting circuit and projecting into the lowerchamber, one of said terminals being a substantially rigid element andthe other terminal being a resilient bimetallic element, and weightedelectrical contact means secured to and bodily carried by said diaphragmfor circuit closing engagement with said spaced electrical terminalsunder influence of gravity when suction in the upper chamber isinterrupted, said resilient bimetallic element automatically disengagingsaid Weighted electrical contact means after passage of current throughthe bimetallic element for a predetermined length of time.

2. In engine starting electrical means, a split casing, a resilientdiaphragm clamped between the sections of the split casing and dividingthe casing into upper and lower chambers, conduit means for placing theupper chamber in communication with engine vacuum, weight contact meansbodily carried by said diaphragm and movable therewith and projecting atleast in part into the lower chamber and adapted to move downwardly withthe diaphragm under the influence of gravity upon failure of enginevacuum in the upper chamber, adjustable air vent means for the lowerchamber of said casing, a first electrical terminal secured to thebottom Wall of the casing for positive engagement with the weightcontact means upon lowering of the same, a resilient bimetallic terminalsecured to the bottom wall of the casing and spaced from the firstterminal and engageable with the Weight contact means and automaticallydisengageable therewith due to the passage of current through thebimetallic terminal for a predetermined length of time, and electricalcircuit means connected with said terminals and extending exteriorly ofthe casing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS725,259 Kitsee Apr. 14, 1903 1,620,493 Schindler Mar. 8, 1927 1,792,583Good Feb. 17, 1931 1,963,930 Beltz June 19, 1934 2,071,042 Maurer Feb.16, 1937 2,486,899 Williams Nov. 1, 1949 2,561,972 Winter July 24, 19512,632,119 Schneider et a1 2. Mar. 17, 1953

1. A SWITCH DEVICE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED FOR USE IN AN ENGINESTARTING SYSTEM OR THE LIKE COMPRISING A CASING A DIAPHRAGM DIVIDING THECASING INTO UPPER AND LOWER CHAMBERS, MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE UPPERCHAMBER WITH A SOURCE OF SUCTION, AIR ESCAPE MEANS FOR THE LOWERCHAMBER, A PAIR OF SPACED ELECTRICAL TERMINALS SECURED TO THE CASING FORCONNECTION IN AN ENGINE STARTING CIRCUIT AND PROJECTING INTO THE LOWERCHAMBER, ONE OF SAID TERMINALS BEING A SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID ELEMENT ANDTHE OTHER TERMINAL BEING A RESILIENT BIMETALLIC ELEMENT, AND WEIGHTEDELECTRICAL CONTACT MEANS SECURED TO AND BODILY CARRIED BY SAID DIAPHRAGMFOR CIRCUIT CLOSING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SPACED ELECTRICAL TERMINALSUNDER INFLUENCE OF GRAVITY WHEN SUCTION IN THE UPPER CHAMBER ISINTERRUPTED, SAID RESILIENT BIMETALLIC ELEMENT AUTOMATICALLY DISENGAGINGSAID WEIGHTED ELECTRICAL CONTACT MEANS AFTER PASSAGE OF CURRENT THROUGHTHE BIMETALLIC ELEMENT FOR A PREDETERMINED LENGTH OF TIME.